“Maybe if I was working in a different avenue or I took a different path in life, it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Wake explains. “But this is my vessel, this is how I make my money, how I make my living, how I achieve my goals. You have a Ferrari, you’re not going to just throw any kind of motor oil or anything in it, you’re going to find the best that you can find to make sure that engine runs to the peak performance. And I want to get the peak performance and cheeseburgers and potato chips and sodas, that’s not going to maximize my effort. I kind of cut out whatever I can that doesn’t translate into peak performance. Being my engine, I max out every time.”

Wake loves when younger players come up to him and ask him for advice as he's always ready to help them become the best they can be too.

“It’s funny how things kind of transition,” Wake says. “As I’ve gotten more wisdom in the game and some of the young guys are coming up to me and asking me, ‘Hey, what do you do in the offseason?’ Or, ‘What do you eat?’ (I’m) starting to kind of grab guys and say, listen, how badly do you want that interception? How badly do you want that sack or that touchdown? Is it worth not eating that cheeseburger and having a chicken sandwich or a salad? Instead of putting four hours into that video game, maybe playing for 30 minutes and going out and doing some extra running or studying on that playbook.

“Because it could be that one thing that you notice from your studies and your playbook or that one extra rep or that salad that gives you that one inch that creates that sack or that interception or that touchdown, (and) in this game you know that one inch, that one foot that you can gain can make a difference in the game and the difference in a season.”

Wake has shown no signs of slowing down and looks to be a dominant force on the defensive line for years to come, despite his age and that can be attributed to how much he takes care of himself and his body.